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Well... to wash the taste of frustration from the Spectra Reactor restoration projects I have decided to try my hand at kite building. I started reading the Le Quartz build project online and said to myself... "I might be able to pull this one off!"

Here are some photos of the right side sail after spending 8 hours today doing the following:

1. Rushing to store to purchase ripstop nylon (sadly not Icarex or Chikara), fabric glue and red poly on poly thread.2. Printing the templates and blueprint pages then taping them all together!!! Next time single sheet complete prints at Staples!! 3. I will next time hot cut on glass or other hard smooth surface, hardboard left too much debris on the sail edges. 4. Paper templates are terrible to hot knife along. Next serious project kite I will make proper templates from some hard material via water-jet.5. Setting up the old Kenmore 1345 was simple enough... but only after spending 20 minutes trying to download a .pdf of the instruction manual!!!! By the way... I need ALOT of practice at sewing and need to study up on sewing principles. Setting tensions was so time consuming trying to find that sweet spot for the stitch of choice.

Templates can easily be made from a cardstock like material with great results.......cover the edge with aluminum Duct tape (the real stuff not the duck tape) to help the template last longer....

While that material you got will teach you a lot it is going to act differently than what you will find in the sport kites on the market either icarex or nylon.... even while sewing it will stretch a lot more....and flight...well....I would suggest not framing this because that material will fit funky.....

But like you said you are learning a lot!!!!!Tension is one of the top things to learn about your machine.....keep your needles sharp - if you hear a popping sound with each needle down stroke you need a new needle......

Yes I knew this material was insufficient for performance but it allowed me to see whether or not I was even capable of hot cutting and sewing decently. These two processes I felt were the hardest and I feel totally competent now to continue with kite building.

I am going to continue refining the hot cut process with your advice on the templates, that was an awesome idea. I did purchase packages of #80 and #100 needles as I had no clue what needle was on the machine before.

I am actually going to frame this sail in pultruded or glass and mount in the house. This is in fact still my very first kite build. You know Lamborghini did make farm tractors before he started making supercars!

The project lists Icarex to be used. I also found that, as you stated, with the way ripstop nylon has a stretch to it I had problems gluing and sewing the spine because of the concave shape it creates when put together. It was terrible to get each end to meet perfectly, because of the stretching I caused when pulling the materials in, to be lined up then glued. I still learned a lot about the process of attaching the two halves though. This will definitely save me the pain in my wallet by learning about these issues and developing the techniques before hand and wasting expensive materials.

By the way.... where has all the 31g per mē Icarex Ripstop Polyester gone?!?!?! I'm definitely not paying overseas shipping on a couple sq. yards of poly. Any retailers in the states??

Only place to get Icarex is Jon T since Bonnie is closed for good now. YOu can go to kite builder or goodwinds and get Silicon coated 3/4 oz nylon for ~7 a yard and thats good for most any kite project. Right now Icarex is running ~$15 a yard.

Well done.It is indeed very good practice.I decided to go the hard way from the beginning with the real thing and I suffered quite a bit in some parts where I thought I had almost wrecked the whole thing... *sigh* ... too much stress for my nerves and health

kitebuilder also has ZMax which is another polycarbonate material like icarex....i have heard good things about it....

sil-nylon (silicone coated nylon) is not something i would suggest for a first sewing project...that is slick stuff.......reguires a steady hand...good set up...and def double sided tape...

Right now I'm using Fabric Fusion to attach the sail parts.. been somewhat of a pain actually and somewhat messy if the parts tear apart and spread glue all over. What tapes are there that would best be used?

kitebuilder also has ZMax which is another polycarbonate material like icarex....i have heard good things about it....

sil-nylon (silicone coated nylon) is not something i would suggest for a first sewing project...that is slick stuff.......reguires a steady hand...good set up...and def double sided tape...

Right now I'm using Fabric Fusion to attach the sail parts.. been somewhat of a pain actually and somewhat messy if the parts tear apart and spread glue all over. What tapes are there that would best be used?

I used 5mm double-sided tape which is very easy and clean to use. I think it is sold at many stationery stores, but I actually bought a large roll at my local kite shop.Cheers

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